recording drums with 1 mic?? (options??)

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thegrew

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hi there.....i am in a band, and am seriously considering using my Fostex MR-8 to record us. the only concern i have is about recording the drums.....the MR-8 can only record 2 tracks at once, and has only like 2 mic inputs....do you think i could get REASONABLE results recording the drums with just 1 mic??....i know it will be nowhere near IDEAL, but what do you think??
i am also thinkin that maybe i could use a little mixer unit with like 4 inputs, then feed them all into the 1 MR-8 unit....i know this would NOT give me great control of each individual option, but what do you think??.....any help would be greatly appreciated....peace....Dave.
 
When I first started out recording I used a little 4 channel mixer to pre-mix a drum signal before recording it. I had the usual two overheads, one snare and one kick set up.

It wasn't ideal, but I was suprised at the result I got. It was better than I expected. However, when I upgraded to an 8-in 8-out soundcard the difference was immense.
 
I frequently record drums with only one mic, completely by choice. I like to use one Omni-directional LD condenser, placed just above and just in front of the drummers head. You want it as close to the drummers head as possible without it getting hit or making the drummer comfortable.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
If you can record 2 channels at once, why not use 2 mics on the drums instead of 1? And yes, even 1 mic can get you usable drum sounds.
 
I like putting one mic a few feet out from the kit and compressing the hell out of it. The better your room sounds the farther you can place the mic. As with any drum micing situation the tone and tuning of the drums is the most important thing.
 
Originally posted by Harvey Gerst
Standard trick:

With someone playing the drums, put your finger in your ear and walk around the room, listening with your unpluged ear. When you find a spot in the room where the drums sound balanced, put a mic where your ear was.

It really works. Also works great for miking other instruments, like electric guitar, fiddle, etc.
 
Light said:
I frequently record drums with only one mic, completely by choice. I like to use one Omni-directional LD condenser, placed just above and just in front of the drummers head. You want it as close to the drummers head as possible without it getting hit or making the drummer comfortable.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...

What place would it be that makes the drummer comfortable ???

:D aXel :D
 
It really depends on what mic you are going to use, this is something where using a mic like a sm-57 probably won't do that great of a job. I have used one of those cheap Behringer omni's on drums before and liked the sound pretty good. You will have to spend a lot of time on mic placement though. It is easy to lose your snare when you're miking drums with one mic if you're not careful, especially because many drummers have cymbals made for live use that are very loud.
 
thanx for all the advice guys..really appreciate it....i am using a fostex mr8 which is a bit restricted by time, so using 2 channels might take up too much time....but i will try some of the placements you suggested.....this forum rocks...peace out...Dave
 
When I started recording I had a two channel Radio Shack mixer going to a standard tape deck. I had one mic, and the guitarist had the other one.

Just hang it over your kit and get jammin:) If you have $100 or so, you can pick up a condenser mic.

- Doug
 
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